Justice News

Former Lincoln Resident Sentenced to over 4 Years in Prison for Her Participation in a $22 Million Fraud Scheme

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Today, U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. sentenced Mary Sue Weaver, 65, currently of Scottsdale, Arizona and formerly of Lincoln, California, to four years and two months in prison and ordered to pay $15,387,945 in restitution for her participation in a $22 million fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

On December 15, 2017, Weaver pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud. On June 1, 2018, co-defendant Abolghasseni “Abe” Alizadeh, 59, of Granite Bay, was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison and ordered to pay $15,879,945 in restitution to the victims of his crimes.

According to court documents, Weaver was employed at a local title company and assisted Alizadeh, a Sacramento-area commercial real estate developer, restauranteur and owner of Kobra Properties, in a scheme to fraudulently purchase land that he planned to develop.

According to court documents, Alizadeh would write checks for the down payment on a commercial property, but because he lacked funds to cover the checks, he would call Weaver and ask her to delay depositing the checks until after escrow closed. Once escrow closed, Weaver disbursed funds from the title company’s escrow trust account to Kobra Properties. Kobra Properties then used those funds to cover its down payment and other costs. In this way, it appeared as though Alizadeh was making a substantial down payment when in fact he was not. Alizadeh’s entire scheme, involving no fewer than six properties in the Sacramento area, resulted in a loss to various financial institutions of over $22 million.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Anderson and Heiko P. Coppola are prosecuting the case.